Hypnosis F.A.Q.

Common Questions, Myths and Information About Hypnosis

1.EXACTLY WHAT IS HYPNOSIS?

Hypnosis is a state of altered consciousness that occurs normally in every person just before he/she enters into the sleep state and just before waking. In therapeutic hypnosis, we prolong this brief interlude so that we can work within its bounds. Hypnosis with a therapist is basically guided meditation.

2.CAN EVERYBODY BE HYPNOTIZED?

Yes, because it’s a normal state that everybody experiences. We all pass through before going to sleep and again before waking completely. However, it is possible to resist hypnosis. Like it is possible to resist going to sleep, but even if one does resists hypnosis. With practice, resistance can be overcome.

3.WHAT IS THE VALUE OF HYPNOSIS?

There is no magic in hypnosis. There are some conditions in which it is useful and others in which no great benefit is derived. It is employed in medicine to reduce tension and pain which accompany various physical problems and to aid certain rehabilitative procedures. In psychiatric practice, it is helpful in short term therapy, and also, in some cases, long term treatment where obstinate resistances have been encountered.

Using E.F.T. seems to come in very handy if you are having trouble finding your core issue.

4.WHO CAN DO HYPNOSIS?

Only a qualified professional person should decide whether one needs hypnosis or could benefit from it. The professional person requires special training in the techniques and uses of hypnosis before he can be considered qualified and should be certified by the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners. Ask to see certificates if you have any doubts.

5.WHY DO SOME PEOPLE NOT BELIEVE IN THE VALUE OF HYPNOSIS?

Hypnosis is a much misunderstood phenomenon. The exaggerated claims made for it by undisciplined persons have turned some people into not feeling comfortable with it. Some doctors and psychiatrists use it as a daily tool. Others renounce it. Usually because Freud gave it up decades ago and they just have not had much experience with its modern use. I have found the predominant reason people are uncomfortable with it is because they have seen stage hypnosis and believe they will lose control. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Stage hypnosis is about entertainment. If the subjects do not agree to be entertainers they are asked to sit down. That’s why the hypnotist brings 30 people to the stage and keeps 8 or 10. He only keeps the individuals that have agreed (subconsciously) to be entertainers.

6.IS HYPNOSIS SAFE?

The hypnotic state is as safe as the sleep state. Sometimes unskilled operators may give subjects foolish suggestions, such as ones often witnessed in stage hypnosis, where the trance is exploited for entertainment purposes. A delicately balanced and sensitive person exposed to unwise and unkind suggestions may not respond favorably, usually just coming out of trance abruptly. On the whole, hypnosis is safe and comforting when practiced by ethical and qualified practitioners. Remember it is a natural biological state that we drift in and out of every day.

7.DO I NEED HYPNOTHERAPY?

If you have nervous symptoms such as tensions, depressions, fears, fatigue, panic episodes or certain physical complaints for which your doctor finds no physical basis; if you find it difficult to get along at work or in your relationships with people; if you have a school, sex or marital problem; or if you merely feel irritable, unhappy and believe you are not getting the most out of your life, hypnotherapy will be able to help you.

8.HOW DOES HYPNOTHERAPY WORK?

Nervous symptoms and unwarranted unhappiness are the product of inner emotional conflicts. In hypnotherapy you are helped to understand your conflicts. In this way, it is possible for you to do something constructive about solving them.

9.CAN PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS BE CAUSED BY EMOTION?

Many physical symptoms are psychosomatic in nature, which means that they have an emotional or nervous basis. (just for the record I believe that MOST physical symptoms have an emotional driver) When you come to think of it, it’s not really so strange that emotional strain or worry would produce physical symptoms. After all, every organ in your body is connected with your brain by nerve channels. So logically, when your nervous system is upset by some crisis or conflict, you may feel the effects in various organs of the body.

10.IF I CAN’T SOLVE MY PERSONAL PROBLEMS ON MY OWN, DOES THAT

MEAN THAT I AM WEAK OR AM ON THE WAY TO A MENTAL BREAKDOWN?

No. Allow me to repeat that … NO! Even if you have serious symptoms, it is difficult to work out emotional problems by yourself because you are too close to them and cannot see them clearly. More and more people, even those with a great deal of psychological knowledge are seeking help these days because they realize this. The fact that YOU desire to better yourself is a compliment to your judgment and self awareness. It gives no indication that you are not mentally stable. Hypnotherapy combined with EFT has helped countless numbers of people to overcome serious emotional symptoms, and has enabled many others to increase their working capacities and to better their relationships with people.

11. WHAT HAPPENS TO INFORMATION ABOUT ME?

In scientific work, records are necessary, since they permit a more thorough dealing with ones problems. It is understandable that you might be concerned about what happens to the information about you, because much or all of this is highly personal. Case records are confidential. No outsider, Not even your closest friend or family physician is permitted to see your case record without you written permission.

12. I AM NOT SURE IF I CAN BE HYPNOTIZED?

Like stated above. All people go through the hypnotic state at least twice a day. Before falling asleep, you know that time when you are not asleep and you are not really awake. And conversley when you are waking up. That period when you are not really awake but you aren’t asleep any more either. The hypnotic state is a natural biological state that EVERYONE goes in and out of everyday. There is no reason why you should not be able to enter a hypnotic state. You cannot be hypnotized against your will. You really need 3 things for hypnosis to be successful. The acronym is W.E.L. You must Want it to happen, Expect itto happen andLet it happen. It’s that easy. In my experience, I have found that the more intelligent the person is the easier it is for him or her to allow themselves the experience. Like anything practice makes it easier.

13. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE HYPNOTIZED?

(this is very important … please read twice)

The answer to this is extremely important because it may determine whether or not you can benefit from hypnosis. Most people do not pursue hypnosis after a few sessions because they perceive that they are not suitable subjects. The average person has the idea that he will go through something different, new and spectacular in the hypnotic state. Often he equates being hypnotized with being anesthetized or being asleep or being unconscious. When in hypnosis he finds that his mind is active; that he is very aware of himself; and that he remembers everything that has happened when he opens his eyes. He believes himself to have not succeeded. He imagines then that he is not a good subject and he is apt to not continue hypnotic treatments. The experience of being hypnotized is the same as the experience of relaxing and of starting to go to sleep.

Because this experience is so familiar to you, and because you may expect something startlingly different in hypnosis, you may not believe you are hypnotized when a trance is induced. REMEMBER, you are conscious, you are fully aware. Your mind is active, your thoughts are under YOUR control and you perceive all stimuli. You are in complete communication with the operator and yourself. The only unique thing you mayexperience is a feeling of heaviness in your appendages, and tingling in your hands and fingers. If you are habitually a deep sleeper you may doze momentarily or if you are a light sleeper, you may have a feeling you are completely awake.

14. HOW DEEP DO I HAVE TO GO TO GET BENEFITS FROM HYPNOSIS?

If you can conceive of hypnosis as a spectrum of awareness that stretches from waking to sleep, you will realize that some aspects are close to the waking state, and share the phenomena of waking, and some aspects are close to sleep and participate in the phenomena of light sleep. But over the entire spectrum, suggestibility is increased and this is what makes hypnosis beneficial. Provided we put the suggestibility to a constructive use. Please understand that the depth of hypnosis does not always correlate with the degree of suggestibility. In other words, even if you go no deeper than the lightest stages of hypnosis and are merely mildly relaxed you will still be able to benefit from its therapeutic effects. It so happens that with practice, you should be able to go in “deeper”, but this really is not too important in the great majority of cases.

15. HOW DOES HYPNOSIS WORK?

The human mind is extremely suggestible and is being bombarded constantly with suggestive stimuli from outside and suggestive thoughts and ideas from the inside. A good deal of suffering is the consequence of negative thoughts and impulses invading one’s mind from conscious recesses. Unfortunately, past experiences, feelings of guilt and repressed impulses and desires (emotions) are incessantly sabotaging one’s happiness, health and efficiency. By the time one has reached adulthood, he has built up “negative” modes of thinking. These are not easy to break. In hypnosis, we attempt to replace these negative attitudes with positive ones. It takes time to disintegrate old habit patterns, so do not be discouraged if there is no immediate effect. If you continue to practice the principles taught to you by your therapist, you will eventually notice change. Even though there may be no apparent alterations on the surface, a restructuring is going on underneath. An analogy may make this clear. If you hold a batch of white blotters above the level of your eyes so that you only see the bottom blotter and you pour ink on top. You will observe nothing different for a while, until sufficient ink has been poured to soak through the entire thickness. And even though there is enough ink to come through. The bottom sheet will stay white until eventually, the ink drips down through. During this period while nothing, seemingly is happening we might be tempted to consider the process a failure. Suggestions in hypnosis are like ink poured on layers of resistance; one must keep repeating them before they come through to influence old, destructive patterns. The inclusion of E.F.T. speeds this process up measurably

16. HOW CAN I HELP IN THE TREATMENT PROCESS?

Like I said before. Want it, Expect it and Let it happen. It is also very important to mention to your therapist your reactions to treatment no matter how unfounded, unfair or unreasonable these reactions may seem. If for any reason you believe you should not continue the therapy, mention your desire to do so to your hypnotherapist. Important clues may be derived from your reactions, dreams and resistances that will provide an understanding of your inner conflicts and help in your treatment.

17. WHAT ABOUT SELF HYPNOSIS?

“Relaxing exercise”, “self hypnosis” and “auto-hypnosis” “meditation” are all interchangeable terms for a reinforcing process that may be valuable in helping your therapist help you. If this adjunct is necessary, it will be employed. The technique is simple and safe.

If you have ANY questions that have not been addressed here, please feel free to contact me at HypnoWorks 780-970-0907-